According to Adele
by thethreebadgers
Summary: Adele is preparing for her first gym battle in Pewtor city. That's hard enough without having to avoid her irritating rival Daniel Ketchum at the same time.
1. Of Saturday Mornings and Extreme Bordom

A/N: I (obviously) do not own Pokemon. Only the plot and any unfamilier characters belong to me.

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><p><em>Saturday morning, 6:00 a.m.<em>

_*beep beep beep beep*_

I fished around for the alarm clock with my eyes still closed. It took me a good five minutes of it, but I finally got it turned off. I hate alarm clocks, but without them I'd always be late. Well, I'm still always late, but they always wake me up on time. I just either go back to sleep or waste time when I'm getting ready. Another bad thing about them is that I always forget to turn them off on weekends, like right now, and end up waking up at six in the morning when in actuality I would've slept until noon like the lazy person I am.

By the way, my name is Adele Lerman. I'm fifteen years old and am going to be starting out on my journey across Kanto soon with my best friend Madeline Eckert. Well, not if my mom has anything to say about it. She's been trying to convince me to stay home and knit with her for the last month. Sorry mom, but that's not going to happen. Maddy and I have been planning this since we were seven-we'd go on our journey together, me becoming the ultimate trainer and she becoming a top class Pokémon healer and making millions. Sure it's a bit far-fetched, but I know we can do it. We have to.

I was still lying there with eyes shut tight and willing myself to fall back asleep even though I knew that was impossible, once I'm awake, I'm awake. No two ways about it. After a few minutes of stalling I gave sleep up as a lost cause and dragged myself reluctantly out of bed. I threw on a pair of black basketball shorts and a green and blue tee shirt. I go for comfort, not style. I found a green scrunchi and threw my curly blonde hair up into a ponytail. It probably resembled a bale of hay, but like I said: comfort, not style.

I thundered down the stairs clumsily still only half awake. Mom says I sound like drunken Phanpy when I do this. She's probably right. I passed her when I walked through the kitchen which smelled like my favorite blueberry pancakes. "Morning," I said groggily

"Good Morning, Della. Forget to turn off your alarm clock again?" she asked with a smile on her face. She knows me so well. I filled myself a plate of pancakes and drowned them all in syrup; just the way I like it. Mom frowned at my plate; she says that all the sugar I eat is going to kill me one day, but she must've decided to let it be. One of the things I love about my mom is that she's not extremely uptight. Maddy's mother is always barking at her for something- grades mostly. Even though Maddy works nonstop to get straight A's it's never enough for the old cow. That's probably why Maddy's over at our house so much.

I quickly wolfed down my four pancakes (mom says I have the stomach of a Snorlax and the metabolism of a Bellsprout) and was left bored without anything to do. My little sister Stella was still asleep and would've murdered me if I woke her up. She's got quite the temper for someone so small. Maddy's mom would have an aneurism if I came over and I'm not allowed to go wandering about by myself, and it's not like I have a Pokémon yet. It's going to be a long day.

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><p>Thanks for reading this! It's my first story on here and I'm really nervous about how it turned out, so if you spot any grammar mistakes please let me know in a review. Tell me what you think about it, but please, don't be too harsh. Im new at this. Constructive critisism is welcome. Thanks again!<p> 


	2. Of Overbearing Mothers and School

Second Chapter! I hope you guys like it.

Again, I don't own Pokémon. I do own Adele and any unfamiliar characters though

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><p><em>Monday Morning, 7:00<em>

Maddy and I were walking across town in the early morning on our way to school, our heavy backpacks slung over our shoulders. It would've been quiet and peaceful if Maddy hadn't been on the fun with her mom, who for some reason found it necessary to scream at the top of her lungs whenever she was on the phone with anyone. I would've laughed, but Maddy looked like she was in serious pain and was holding the phone about four feet from her ear and could still hear every screech perfectly. You had to feel sorry for her for having to deal with her overbearing mom all day. She only ever got a break from her when she was over at my house or when her dad came home from his job unloading cargo ships in Vermillion, which was only every two weeks.

"Yeah mom, I studied for- no she's not corrupting me- Mom I- MOM! I have to go, we're uhh… We're going through a tunnel! Love you bye!" She shouted over her mom's protests and hung up the phone quickly and sighed. "She's driving me insane," she groaned while rubbing her temples.

"Did she ask I was corrupting you?" I chuckled. Mrs. E did _not_ like me in any way. She tried to keep us from hanging out for years because she thought I was a bad influence. I don't know why though. I've never done anything illegal; unless you count attempting to break in to the Viridian's old abandoned gym last year. I was just curious, who wouldn't be? And I also t-p'd the Ketchum's mansion down in Pallet Town two years ago. It was just a harmless prank, and anyway, that asshole Daniel Ketchum had it coming. Calling Maddy a stuck up hoe was not his smartest move. Not that any of his moves are smart, he's an idiot to the highest degree. The only thing he's got going for him is his Daddy's money, and Mr. Ketchum isn't going to put up with his crap forever. Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum are pretty cool. How they ever managed to spawn something so awful and repulsive is beyond me. Even their daughter Sophie is better than him, and she's nine. Anyway, back to the present.

Maddy laughed lightly, her short brown hair flew behind her in the wind and the freckles that covered every inch of her face stood out in the morning sun. "Yeah, but when hasn't she? She's still trying to get me hang out with Natasha. Like that's ever going to happen, she hates me. The feeling's completely mutual, by the way." Natasha Kane is, to put it bluntly, the town bicycle. Not the kind of person anyone with any amount of self-respect or dignity would want to associate with. She has a way of making everything worse. She's also incredibly beautiful. No, life is not fair. Sucks, doesn't it?

We got to school pretty quickly, which is a good thing since we were running a bit late, as per usual. We ran up the front steps and tugged open the heavy front door. We were greeted by the famous death glare of our teacher, Ms. Goodman, who is an evil old cat woman who lives by herself in a creepy old house in the woods. She hates me more than Maddy hates Natasha. Mainly because after I was down t-ping the Ketchum's I had some extra toilet and...Well, you get the picture. She doesn't have any proof it was me, but she knows. Ever since she's been extra hard on me; giving me extra homework, double detentions, you know, the works. "Nice of you to join us: Ms. Eckert, Ms. Lerman. Be thankful I don't give the both of you detention. Wouldn't that be your fourteenth this month, Ms. Lerman?" She asked giving me her trademark creepy smile. I heard snickering coming from Natasha's crowd, but I ignored it. I don't give them any attention, it's what they want. "Take your seats. Now, let's continue with our lesson. What were we talking about? Oh yes, get out Handling and Training for Beginners and turn to page 306, chapter fourteen. "

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><p>Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it. It's a bit of a filler chapter but I just wanted to introduce you to Maddy and Daniel, as they're important characters. I also wanted to show you a little deeper into Adele's personality. Please review; it's what gives me motivation! Critiques are completely welcome. Thanks.<p> 


	3. Of Excitement and Eevee

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon yadda yadda

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><p><em>Saturday, 5:30 a.m.<em>

I woke up extremely early that morning with my stomach full of jitters. I couldn't for the life of me understand why. Well, for the first few minutes. Then it hit me.

Today I'm getting my first Pokémon. I'm starting my journey tomorrow.

Holy. Fricking. Cow.

I jumped out of bed quickly, causing my vision to go out of whack for a few moments. I regained it my senses and ran to my sisters bed across the room where little Stella was fast asleep, snoring un-naturally loud. I roughly shook her shoulders, causing her limp head to bang against her pillow. Her eyelids fluttered open and she stared blankly at me for a second. That blank look turned to confusion, and then was replaced with fury. In my excitement I had forgotten about her anger issues and the fact that she is _not_ a morning person.

Oops.

She made a familiar growling noise in the back of her throat, the one she makes right before she strikes. I didn't stick around to find out what she'd do next. I grabbed the bag I'd packed the night before and the grey and blue tee shirt and pair of denim shorts I'd planned on wearing and hightailed it out of there. An angry Stella always ends badly. I got changed in the bathroom and brushed out my ratty hair. When it looked halfway decent (it never looked completely decent) I threw it up in a ponytail as usual. But I did make an effort to make it look a bit nicer. I wanted to start this journey out right.

I ran down the stairs two by two and tripped on the last set ad landed on my face. I heard laughing from above me, where I saw my mom standing doubled over in hysterics. "Love you too," I grumbled as I pulled myself up. She just grinned and said,

"I really hope this isn't an omen for the rest of your day,' Della." She said, "I made you bacon and eggs."

I grinned gratefully and skipped to the kitchen, all the jitters from the morning forgotten. I filled myself a plate of bacon and eggs and plopped down at the table. Mom stared at me in disgust as I shoveled eggs down my throat. You'd think she'd be used to it by now; I've only been doing this for the past fifteen years. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon either.

Mom cleared her throat in an obvious-but-not-_too_-obvious attempt to distract me from the food and focus on her. After she was sure I was paying a proper amount of attention she said: "So, when are we heading over to Oak's?

Professor Oak was still head of Pallet Town's laboratory, even though he was like, two hundred years old. He'd stopped handing out starter Pokémon to just anyone over the last few years because of the humongous number of kids who started showing up and demanding a Squirtle or whatever. Now you have to be either a genius, have a teacher recommendation, or have amazing charismatic abilities and convince the old guy to like you and that you have potential, and that it would be a crime against Kanto to deny a person like yourself.

I fall into the third category, if you haven't already guessed.

I relied on my amazing charm and flattery to win him over. It somehow worked and he took an immediate liking to me and promised me my first Pokémon. I don't know what he's got in store for me; I just really hope it's not a Magicarp or something really girly and weak like a Hoppip or something. Daniel and Natasha would never let me live it down. Speaking of Daniel and Natasha, I saw Daniel showing off his new Hounder outside school yesterday, and Natasha has been bragging about her Jigglypuff for the last week. I just hope that old Oakie pulled through on this.

The car ride to Pallet was absolutely horrible. Mom seemed incapable of driving any faster than 20 mph and insisted on taking the scenic route and pointing out every Pidgey and Rattata along the way. And to add to that, Stella was still pissed off about the morning, and would hiss every time I glanced at her.

I worry about her sometimes.

When we finally made it to the lab I jumped out of the station wagon the second it stopped moving. I could hear mom yelling at me through the window but I kept going until I reached the heavy metal doors of the lab and tugged them open and stepped inside.

Oak's lab is about 20 degrees cooler than the hot outside air and its hits you the second you walk in. The lab is also huge, way bigger than it looks on the outside, and has lots of high-tech looking computers and confusing looking graphs lining the paste-white walls. There are doors leading off to other parts of the building, most of them marked with a sign saying 'Restricted! Authorized Personal Only.' I walked up to the front desk with Mom and Stella at my heels.

"Excuse me Hazel," I said in my most polite tone. "Do you know where Professor Oak is?"

"And you are?" She asked in a nasal voice.

"Adele Lerman" She flicked through her massive pile of files (hehe, that rhymes.) and pointed to another metal door at the end of the hall. "He's right through there." We said thanks and walked down the hall to the door Hazel had pointed at. I knocked loudly on it and waited until I heard a faint 'come in' before I opened it up. The Professor was sitting at his desk reading a large book with a title in some foreign language I couldn't even identify. He glanced up and grinned widely at us.

"Adele! Yes, I was wondering when you'd be here. Oh these must be your mother and sister; you Lerman girls all look alike." He shook hands with my mother and said hello to Stella, who just stared back blankly. He didn't seem at all irritated at her behavior, like a lot of adults. Oak was just chill like that. He gave us another wide smile then walked back over to his desk, pulled out a poké ball and led us over to a large metal examining table. He pressed the button on the side and a red beam came out, and then revealed a small, brown colored fox-like Pokémon. I knew at once what it was, but let the Professor explain it to my mom, who was never a big Pokémon person and only kept a Mankey for protection, and my sister who loved Pokémon, but was only nine and hadn't attended school yet. "This," he explained, "is an Eevee, as I'm sure Adele knows" he said, grinning in my direction. "She's still pretty young, and doesn't have complete control over her power yet, but with a little training and love she'll grow to be very powerful. I have a strong feeling about you two." He added with a wink.

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><p>Thanks for reading! I'm now accepting characters if you want to submit one I'll pick my favorites and try to get them in the story as fast as possible!<p>

Review please! Flames are welcome.


	4. Of Goodbyes and New Beginnings

_Saturday, 11:00 p.m._

I ripped through the my closet like a tornado, grabbing the first things I saw and throwing them to Stella, who was standing by my backpack and stuffing everything in it with about the same amount of neatness I would use.

We would make awful maids. Stella's idea of 'cleaning up' meant shoving everything in sight into the refrigerator, then acting completely innocent when a pair of muddy sneakers and god-knows-what else on your unsuspecting sister's head.

I'm still mad about that.

"Ok! So I've got your tooth brush, tooth paste, clothes, money, hair brush, shampoo and conditioner crap, and your IPod. That sound like everything?" She said after digging through the mess. I thought for a bit and then nodded, that sounded like just about everything. "What about your phone?" I nodded again. "Good. Now that were all done here, I'm going to go back to sleep. Wake me whenever, kay?" She then skipped over to her bed and flopped in, and fell asleep immediately.

Same old Stell'. I'm going to miss her and her devious little ways.

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><p><em>Sunday, 7:45 a.m.<em>

I stood in front of the full length mirror in my room and fastened my black pokéball belt loosely around my waist and attached my Eevee Josie's ball onto it. After I threw on my old black and blue DC shoes I headed down to the kitchen where my sister and mom were waiting for me. "Ready!" I said happily.

We headed out to the Pokécenter where we had planned to meet Maddy and her family. Sure enough, when we arrived they stood outside the building waiting. Waiting impatiently on Mrs. Eckert's part. I could tell because she had her arms crossed over her chest and an ugly scowl on her face. Mr. E-fizzle on the other hand was smiling pleasantly and appeared to be humming. Mr. E is awesome; how he ended up with that cow is beyond me.

Maybe she threatened him. That would be _so_ like her.

"Hey, kiddo!" He shouted and waved at me. I grinned and waved back.

"Hey, Richie. What's shaking?" He just grinned and ruffled my hair.

"Well, I'm so happy that you decided to grace us with your presence. Now can we please hurry this up?" Mrs. E said in a snotty tone.

Must. Repress. Urge. To smack. Annoying. Woman.

Is my eye twitching? I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Mom seemed to read my thoughts because she said, "_Okay! _How about we go inside and get you your card? You wanna come, too Maddy?" And without waiting for our answer, dragged us inside and up to the counter to get my trainer cards, which were required for everyone with a Pokémon.

We were done in less than five minutes and walked back out to find Mr. and Mrs. E arguing loudly.

"Honey I-"

"Don't you _honey_ me!"

"Wendy, your being completely irrational and honestly I-"

"I am most certainly _not_ irrational-"she stopped when she saw us staring at them, shot us a glare that most likely said 'Go the hell away' and stopped off to their car and slammed the door as hard as possible.

Richie rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "She means well, your mom. She's just-"

Irrational? Annoying? Absolutely mental?

"-a little stressed out over everything lately. She didn't want you to go in the first place, you know." He said looking at Maddy directly.

"I'm going." She said in a stubborn voice.

He gave her a very Richie-like smile and said, "I'm not stopping you. I think it's awesome. She'll get over it. But if she asks, I never said that." He gave Maddy a hug and walked backwards back to the car while waving.

I wish my dad was that cool. Or you know, actually attempted to have some contact with us from time to time. Not like I care or anything.

Mom had started to tear up and hugged me to the point that I had no air in my lungs. "Do you really have to go? You know you can just stay here with us and-"She stopped talking when she saw the determined look that I probably had on my face. She sighed in defeat. "Your right; you need to go."

I turned to face Stella. "Come here, you nutter." I said and pulled her into a tight hug. I loved the little monster, I really did. "Don't burn down the whole town while I'm gone." I whispered so only she could hear. She laughed a little and said,

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say."

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><p><em>Sunday, 8:15<em>

"So what's his name?" I asked, referring to the Teddiursa her dad had bought off a traveler for her down in Vermillion, who was scurrying alongside of us with Josie at its side.

"Teddy."

"How clever."

"Shut up."

We kept walking along the quiet path that led to the Viridian forest for a while, just laughing and talking and enjoying our first glimpse of freedom. It was wonderful, in my opinion. I knew that once we got to Pewter city I'd have to step it up and train extra-hard though, so it was nice to just relax and have fun.

"I think we should have lunch outside the forest, just to be safe. It may attract bugs" Maddy said reasonably. I nodded in agreement and laid out a blanket and brought out the lunches we had packed for us and them and sat down with our Pokémon.

"Dis id goob." I said pointing at the cheesecake I had nicked from her bag. Cheesecake is amazing.

She shot me a disgusted look. "'Della, don't talk with your mouth full."

I swallowed and grinned at her cheekily. "You love me."

She just snorted. How rude.

We finished our lunch as quickly as possible as we were anxious to get to Pewter before nightfall. It can take hours to get out of the Viridian forest; people get lost all the time. I for one am _not_ spending the night in a creepy forest filled with creepy bugs. I don't think Maddy would disagree either; they freak her out just as much as me.

We tossed the leftovers into a nearby garbage can and approached the paths that lead into the woods.

And into the woods we go.

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><p><strong>*AN:** I read over this chapter when I was done writing it and I've decided that it was utter crapola. It would probably be best if I rewrote it but I just really want to get Adele's journey started as soon as possible. I hope you don't think it's as bad as I do.

Leave a little review?


	5. Of Nasty Bugs and Big Forests

Sunday, 2:00 p.m.

"Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!"

"I would if you'd just hold still, dammit!"

"'Della! GET IT OFF!"

"I know, god! Hold still!"

" GET IT OFF!"

"There!" I shouted, ripping the Caterpie out of her hair and throwing it into a bush roughly, ignoring the irate look it gave me before it crawled off. "Are you happy now?"

She sighed, whipping tears from her eyes quickly. "Thanks…"

This is the third time this has happened, i think its her new perfume. Probably attracts the bugs or something

I rolled my eyes at her over dramatic-ness. She shot me a frightening glare.

Hey! I taught her that glare! She can't use it against me!

"I hate bugs." She said quietly, petting her hair gently.

I nodded solemnly, kicking a rock that was laying in the trail. We'd been walking through this freaking forest for five freaking hours, and I'm pretty sure Maddy's just as sick of it as I am.

We haven't seen any one else since we got in here, just bugs, bugs, bugs, and that tree; because I'm pretty sure this is the fifteenth time we've past that now.

I looked down at Josie and Teddy, who had watched the whole 'Caterpie incident' (as it will be referred to from now on) with a bemused interest. Well, Teddy did. I'm pretty sure Josie was laughing hysterically.

Cool! My Pokémon has a sense of humor!

Wait, can a Pokémon laugh hysterically? That's a question to ask a Nurse Joy at the next the next Pokémon center.

That's saying if we ever get out of this stupid forest. Now I see why no one ever goes through here. It's freaking awful! Filled with nasty bugs and shit.

"God these nasty things are EVERYWHERE!" I shouted, gesturing wildly with my arms at all the bugs hovering in the air, in the trees, and in the bushes.

Before Maddy could respond we heard an indignant shout come out of nowhere.

"Did you just call bug Pokémon NASTY?"

"Who was that?" I screeched, jumping back a bit.

"That was me, blondie" said a short, greasy black haired girl who had just stepped out from behind a tree. She had a scrunched up face, like she was smelling sour milk at all times, and dark brown eyes; Almost black.

I absentmindedly touched my hair and scowled. Nobody called me blondie and got away with it. Except Maddy….and my mom, and Stella, and crazy aunt Starla, the family prostitute. And also Daniel that one time, but I kicked his ass for it, so it's all good there.

Wait, what was I doing?

"Hey Dellie? You still there?" Maddy asked with concern.

"Hmm? Oh yeah! And don't call me blondie!"

"Whatever blondie." She said, rolling her dark eyes. "And I asked you a question, what do you have against bugs?"

"We'll, for one, their nasty, and slimy, and creepy, and enjoy my hair. And who are you, anyway?" Maddy asked.

She shot Maddy a look. "Cassandra MacNandrea"

Ok, I'll admit, I snorted. But you would too if someone told you there name was something as ridiculous as that.

Cassandra glared at me. "What? You think my names funny?"

"No." I said, holding back giggles.

"Don't lie!" She said, her ears turning red.

"Oh, just go play with your weedle, MacNandrea." Maddy said, looking irritable and bored.

Now her entire face was red, and her neck was turning pink. "Fine! I'll show you how great bug Pokemon really are! I challenge you to a battle, blondie!"

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><p>AN Oh, god. Adele's gotten herself into a bit of trouble, hasn't she? Her and her big mouth(:

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed for being honest, and everyone who favorited. It helped a lot.

Things will be getting more exciting in the next chapters, which should be coming soon! Thanks for reading! Leave a little review?


	6. Of Battles and Getting out of the Forest

Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

_"Fine! I'll show you how great bug Pokémon really are! I challenge you to a battle, blondie!"_

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><p>I looked over at Josie, who was looking at me curiously and seemed to be saying: "This is it, huh?" I nodded solemnly, and she pranced over and stopped directly in front of me, like she knew exactly what she should be doing. I just wish I could say the same for myself.<p>

I've never been in a real battle before. Sure, I've studied all about them in school, and I've trained with the school's Pokémon and Bobby, our Mankey. But that's not a real battle.

Cassandra reached into her pocket and pulled out two balls. She stared at them for a good two minutes, and then chose the one in her right hand. She looked up at me, a faint mischievous smile on her face. She kind of looked like Stella.

That doesn't make me feel better.

"Okay," she said, "One Pokémon per person. Whosever faint first loses, understand?"

"Yeah." I said calmly, not feeling that way at all. I'm pretty good at hiding what I'm feeling.

"Good!" She tightened her grip on her Pokeball, then threw it up in the air. "Weedle, go!"

A red light came from her ball, and out came one of the yellow bugs we've seen thousands of times that day. This one though, seemed stronger somehow. And the point on its head seemed sharper and filled with the poison we learned about in class.

I swallowed a little two hard to be normal. "Ready, Josie?" I asked and hoped she couldn't tell I was nervous. I had a feeling she could, though.

"Eve Eevee Eve!" She said, getting into her battle stance and looking determined.

Maddy stood on the sideline and shouted 'Begin!'

"Weedle, String shot!"

"Josie dodge it!"

Josie leaped out of the just in time to miss the attack, which hit a nearby tree instead.

"Get in close and use poison sting!"

"Tackle him before he gets the chance!" I called.

Josie used quick feet and ran over to Weedle at full speed, knocking it of its feet before it could get its stinger ready.

Hey, maybe I'm getting the hang of this whole battling thing!

Cassandra grimaced. I could tell she figured I would be an easy win. "Weedle, string shot again!"

"Come, on dodge it! Then use Tackle again!"

This time Cassandra's attack hit and Josie was trapped in its web. Only for a few moments, but it was long enough for Weedles' poison sting to catch up with her.

"Josie? Are you okay?" I asked, praying she wasn't poisoned.

"Eevee!" She said, getting back on her feet quickly. She didn't seem too hurt, hopefully she lucked out.

"Okay then, tackle, full power now!" I yelled excitedly. Hopefully this would do a lot of damage. Weedle seemed a little worn out, but then again, so did Josie. I just needed to get him before he got us.

Josie was a blur she was going so fast. I could tell Weedle would take a lot of damage if this hit.

"Weedle, dodge it and use poison sting!" Cassandra shouted, but it was no use. Josie had already slammed into her Pokémon's body. "Hey? Are you okay?" She asked once the dust had cleared.

"Wee." He breathed heavily. He was almost done for; one more hit like that and Josie will have won.

"Okay, Josie! Use tackle one more time full power!"

"Weedle, use poison sting right before impact!"

Josie ran at top speed toward Weedle, who was preparing for his poison sting. I wasn't too worried though; Weedle wasn't fast enough to get her before she hit him.

She made impact again, and I waited while the dust cleared to show Weedle, who was knocked out on the ground, and Josie, who didn't look to far from it. She seemed to be weak kneed and her breathing was gravelly.

"Josie!" I called out then ran out into the field to her along with Maddy, who was running and digging in her bag franticly at the same time. "Jo, are you okay?"

"Eve…" She managed, lying down in the dirt.

"Here!" Maddy shouted, ripping out what looked like an antidote out of her pack and started mixing it spastically.

"Weedle, you did great. Return." Cassandra said calmly. She walked over to where we were sitting and kneeled beside us. "You're better than I'd thought you'd be. You have a long way to go before you can even think about challenging Brock."

Maddy had already finished the antidote, and was feeding it to Josie and speaking softly to her. Teddy was looking around her at Josie with a look of concern on his little face.

I looked up at her and grinned. "Thanks, Cassandra."

"Anytime Blondie. I hope we battle again someday."

"Definitely."

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><p>Monday, 2:09 a.m.<p>

"Thank goodness!" Maddy said, stumbling drowsily our room at the poke center. "I thought we'd never get out of that crap hole." She flopped onto her bed still in her clothes and started to cover up.

"Same here. I'm setting the alarm at 10:30, okay?"

The only response I got was snoring. I smiled softly and climbed into bed as well.

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><p><strong>*AN **I'm sorry if I didn't portray the battle scene correctly, this is my first one ever, and I tried my best! Hopefully I'll get better at this..Also, I wrote this in three hours, so you know why it sucks if it does(: Well, review please! I need feedback. Thanks!


	7. Of Training and Ketchum

**_*A/N:_**I don't own Pokemon. I believe this goes without saying.

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><p>Monday 8:09 a.m.<p>

I woke up and sighed when I saw the numbers on the clock. It was the fourth time I'd woken up in an hour, and it was only 8 a.m. You'd think after the late night I'd had, I'd sleep 'till noon. I really need to get out of the habit of waking up early. I wouldn't be surprised if it's bad for my health.

I rolled over and shoved my face into the stiff and clean smelling pillow that came with our room. I'd packed my own, but I just didn't have the energy to go and dig it out of my pack last night.

I stayed like that for a few minutes and was fully intending on staying like that all day, but that was before I realized how bad the inside of my mouth tasted and how greasy my hair felt; I hadn't showered last night, and was in a desperate need of one. I reluctantly rolled out of the bed and stretched out my back and popped my neck. I grabbed my back from where it was tossed on the floor and stumbled into the bathroom on my second try. The first time I hit the doorway.

I cursed and peeled off my sweaty tee shirt and muddy shorts and hopped in the shower. I stayed in there for a while longer than normal, probably about twenty minutes. I hopped out and threw on a gray tee shirt and a pair of red basketball shorts, nothing different then my usual wear and threw my white-blonde and slowly curling hair up into a ponytail. I didn't bother with makeup like Maddy probably will when she wakes up from her trance. I'd probably just sweat it off anyway; I'm planning to spend all day outside in the heat.

I scraped the dried mud off my favorite blue and black DC shoes so I wouldn't track it all through the center and pulled them on over my mix-matched socks.

I pulled our room's door shut as quietly as possible and walked down the hallway to the dining room. I grabbed half a grapefruit and a pack of sugar from the buffet table and picked up Josie from an overly happy nurse Joy at the front table who said she was 'a ray of sunshine' to care for. I just nodded and said thank you politely.

Once we were outside the center I let Josie out of her ball and walk beside me as we went to a patch of trees I saw the a night before on the outskirts of town that looked like a nice and remote training place. I didn't think anyone would interrupt us out there, and if they did and they were trainers then, hey! The more the experience the better right? I've heard the first gym battle is always the hardest and I've only ever had one real battle, not counting the practice ones we did in school with the rental Pokémon.

We got to the dirt path that lead to the Viridian forest after about fifteen minutes of walking and turned left, you could see the group of trees I had saw last night a lot clearer in the daylight and it seemed deserted despite the flock of Pidgey flying above.

We went in the middle of the trees at a clearing and before I could even begin to start our training I heard a laugh come from behind me.

I jumped and turned around, while Josie let out a snarl. _I know that laugh._

There he was, leaning up against a tree, tossing a Pokeball up and down in his hands and grinning maliciously at me. I knew who he was without a second glance. His jet black hair was lying neatly on his head (except for the cowlick in the back, but that's always been there) and his blue eyes were staring directly at me.

Daniel Ketchum.

"What are you doin' here, _Lerman_?"

"Getting ready to train. Because that's what _serious_ trainers do. I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that though, huh _Ketchum_?"

He did that whole irritating boy band hair flick thing that made all the girls back home drop at his feet. It didn't affect me at all. "I wouldn't need to too. I'm already just that good."

I _hate_ overconfident people.

"Really? I ask, glaring at him and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah really."

"_Prove it._"

I completely expected him to jump at the chance to be able to compete with me at something, but what he did next was surprising.

"Actually, _love_, I was just getting done with my training and was planning to get back to the center for some sleep." Now that I looked, he did have some light circles under his eyes. "Anyway, I wouldn't want to waste any their energy on you and you're…..whatever that is." He grinned when he saw me turn red in embarrassment and anger. He always did have that effect on me. "I guess I'll see you around? Then again, maybe not." He gave me one last grin before he walked off toward the path, whistling and tossing the Pokeball between his hands all the way.

I took some deep breaths and shook my head. 'Don't let him get to you, Adele' I thought.

"Come on, Josie. We have work to do."

* * *

><p><em><strong>*AN:**_ Yeah, i know that was short but it's been a while since ive updated _anything_ and i just wanted to get this out here!

Sooo... you finally get to meet Daniel. What do you think of him? Hate him, love him? Just leave a little review and tell me!

And if you have any questions just p.m. me and ask and i'll try to get back to you as soon as possible! Thanks :)


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